Never mind the shirt and shoes: Put on a mask!

But where can I, just an average person, actually buy a mask in a store? They used to have them at Home Depot and CVS, but my local stores are out of stock and have been for a while..

https://twitter.com/CDCgov

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 9:51am

https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1246243351503962113

Make one out elastics/hair elastics and a cut up t-shirt. No sewing required. Hot water wash with a drop of bleach to disinfect it each use.

I looked around the house and fashioned one from a scarf and a piece of packing material I found in the "you might use this one day" bag with a piece of 1/4" dense foam that hopefully will keep the lil buggers out.

Plus there's a wealth of info online to DIY.

Those masks don't keep the buggers out

By Stevil
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:20am

For that matter, not sure how well it keeps them in. Mainly what it does is reduce the dispersion of the buggers so the 6 feet can maybe safely be 3-4 feet. Helps from spreading. Doesn't help the getting.

True. Family member at MGH

By Patriciax
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 11:43am

True. Family member at MGH is losing a bit of patience. Seeing people with masks thinking the masks actually accomplish much when most people aren't aware how to properly handle them.

As soon as you touch your mask and the elastics with your hands after a trip to the store, guess what? And then where are you throwing that mask? Re using it? How are you picking it up? Where are you storing it?

I will wear one if I happen to go out to protect others. But, remember when taking them off, same with rubber gloves, unless you do it properly you're really not accomplishing much.

The key thing to remember

By Waquiot
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 11:45am

You are not doing this for yourself. You are doing it for everyone else.

Quite true

By dmcboston
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:39pm

I'm wondering if the addition of a 4 X 4 gauze "liner" would help. My thinking is that it might. Maybe someone here might know/have a valid opinion? Swirll?

[img]https://i.imgur.com/T7j2W7W.jpg[/img]

Note, the study this is based on rejected the best material, vac bags, because they are too dense and the pressure differential caused air to simply flow around it. You'd need a tight seal, like some sort of full face mask, like the 3M painters or lead removal masks.

Anyway, I'm outta here, setting up tents. Nice day, no rain.

Simple improv mask

By dmcboston
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:21pm

That's a good idea.

I came up with this the other day after trying some of the improv ones online.
Here's why I like it...

Decent fit. If it'll fit your head, it will probably fit over your face.
Decent seal. Not bad, really. Takes a bit of getting used to but it's OK.
Decent exhalation stopping. The 4 X 4 gauze helps in that regard, I think. It's basically what they're used for normally. Absorbing blood flow.
Decently comfortable. I wore one for about 45 minutes in my house the other day. Didn't have to adjust it once.
Decently sanitary. Heave the 4 X 4 (or a few, if you have them) after use. Replace with new ones.
More importantly...decently available. I'll bet CVS still has regular first aid stuff. I don't know, this is from my regular stash.

Only problem is if you have an ear-warmer from last winter. A blakkavaklava won't do. You're trying to help, not look like an IRA terrorist.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/B1G8e2u.jpg[/img]

more masks

By Lisfnord
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 9:58am

If you don't mind waiting a few days, there are tons of people on Etsy selling masks. Certainly better made than anything I could throw together, and supports a small business owner.

And you can select local

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 11:59am

And you can select local sellers!

This morning's news said you

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:00pm

This morning's news said you could use a bandana or a scarf if you don't have a mask. Now we won't be able to tell who's about to rob the store or who's about to buy a Milky Way bar.

I'm my day 711 would call the

By Matt Frank
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 9:18am

I'm my day 711 would call the cops on you if you were wearing a mask lol

I hope this is reported.

By CopleyScott17
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 9:48am

They cannot bar someone for not wearing a mask, unless they hand them out for free at the door to anyone who needs one. You *still* can't buy masks anywhere in this city or online. And yes, there are homemade alternatives, but some people do not have the resources to even make a homemade one. If you are an essential business you are allowed to open for the public good, but you have to serve *all* the public.

They can refuse service to someone for not wearing a mask

By bibliotequetres...
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:00am

It's not a protected class. 7-11 can do this, just as a restaurant can bar entry to someone who is not complying with the dress code, should they have one.

A better example might be the "No shirt, No shoes, No service," sign.

I don't think this has anything to do with protected classes.

By CopleyScott17
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:34pm

I believe shirts and shoes are required by health and safety regulations where food is served.
And under normal circumstances, a store or a bank could require people to *remove* face-coverings. But as a public accommodation, I don't see how they could legitimately bar or discriminate against anyone complying with the law.

See for example dress codes

By Bob Leponge
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 3:10pm

Places of public accommodation have always been allowed to enforce dress codes. "We won't serve you if you aren't wearing a mask" is not legally different from "We won't serve you if you aren't wearing a collared shirt / necktie / whatever," is it?

It’s a private business

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:06am

They absolutely can deny service to anyone as long it not based on a protected class.

Hmmm.

By MrZip
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:47am

Perhaps 7-11 should be closed then. If they can't ban people w/o masks, (like banks used to ban people WITH masks/hats/sunglasses) they shouldn't be allowed to jeopardize the health of their workers by requiring them to serve any nitwit that walks in (and at minimum wage, no doubt). Convenience store workers already have to deal threats of violence, robberies, shoplifters, homeless, drug-addled, etc. why not add a potentially deadly disease to the mix? There are plenty of other things to get outraged about, wearing something that could save a life in not one of them right now.

I strongly disagree with this

By NL
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 11:14am

The city should be handing masks out for free at every corner (and the mayor needs to make this an order rather than a suggestion), but businesses should absolutely refuse entry to everyone entering the store without some sort of face mask, especially if that business is selling food. The point of masks is to reduce (warning: image is horrifying), and therefore an old T-shirt wrapped as a bandana does a huge amount of good.

I think this attitude is indicative of people still not taking this seriously enough.

News flash!

By Gary C
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:50pm

Great idea except masks are in short supply, so the city is not in any position to hand out something that they simply cannot get their hands on.

If N95 masks were plentiful and available (as they should be)...

By CopleyScott17
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 1:47pm

...I would agree with you 100%

I am not talking about N95

By NL
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 4:04pm

Just sterilized bandanas would do. I took an old pair of scrubs. People need to be covering their mouths to protect others and even taping a sock to your face is dramatically better than nothing at all.

It does not need to be - and shouldn't be! - an N95 or surgical-quality. Those should be saved for front-line healthcare workers.

required resources - a tshirt

By peter
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:28pm

I get that not everyone has a sewing machine or the expertise to use one.
But the CDC has instructions for making a mask out of a tshirt, or a bandana. If you don't have a tshirt, then the "no shirt no service signs" are gonna be a problem too.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-...

You’re definitely missing out

By pesao
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:42pm

The point that this a private business and they should protect their employees and let’s NOT forget those that are considered their customers. BTW if you can’t get a mask try contacting the White House and ask for some of the ones they are keeping in case there’s a pandemic in the near future...

Say....

By Brian Riccio
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 1:02pm

I'll bet you''re typing this at home and don't have strangers that could care less about your health and welfare coughing in your face because they need scratch tickets.

I'd call inside and ask the

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:04am

I'd call inside and ask the guy to bring me a package of 200 coffee filters and some rubber bands and make my own disposable masks. Then go in and shop.

A mask, or a "mask"?

By Ari O
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:06am

Sir, you don't have a mask on, you can't come in.

But your sign says [airquotes] mask [/airquotes], so I am wearing a [airquotes] mask [/airquotes]

A pandemic should not be an excuse to go around using quote marks for emphasis. Please.

Whoever is running that 7-Eleven heard what they WANTED to hear.

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:23am

Clearly the owner/management there wanted the city or the state to require everyone to wear masks many weeks before. And when the mayor advised people to do it the other day, he or she excitedly just interpreted that everyone must wear it, no exceptions.

Hopefully other businesses that must be open for the public does not follow this misstep.

Well, Good Luck with the upcoming nosedive in business there, if it hasn't fallen off the cliff already.

Mask facts

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 10:51am

A mask that fits poorly is probably no better than no mask. A mask that fits so poorly that you need to constantly adjust it is worse than no mask - every time you touch it you're contaminating your hands. A mask that you've worn many times (without sterilizing) is worse than no mask. Assuming that someone else's mask fits properly and is sterile and will protect you is worse than them wearing no mask.

Sources

By Anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 4:26pm

Hello genuine question here. Could someone please link sources about why cloth masks are worse than no masks when the cdc is recommending them?

Really, me touching my mask to adjust is more likely to spread the germs than me breathing in germs if I am out and about? What is the science / links for this? I looked on CDCs FAQ but there isn’t much reasoning there, and I am genuinely confused on this issue with a lot of conflicting information out.

And how do you properly wash them? Hot water and detergent in the washing machine? Or do you need bleach? Or are they one time?

Making fun of people for doing it wrong isn’t helpful. Providing reliable, authoritative info to dispel misinformation is. Please post sources.

“Sterile”

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 9:02pm

People keep using this word... I do not think it means what people seem to think it means.

Clip art

By Gary C
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 12:54pm

I want know where he found that clip art. It's so April 2020!

P.S. I wonder if this would qualify to be allowed in?

[img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/6...

Strange Times

By anon
Mon, 04/06/2020 - 1:16pm

A month ago if you walked into a 7-11 while masked the cashier would be reaching for the baseball bat under the counter. Now you are not allowed into the store unless you are wearing a mask.